Monthly Attorney Orientation
For Lawyers who are New to Indigent Defense
Beginning August 1, IDS staff will provide orientation for new attorneys on the first Friday of each month from 1-2 p.m.
Topics will include a guided tour of the IDS website, information on training and CLE opportunities, access to wellness resources and more. You will also be able to connect with other defense attorneys for future collaboration!
2025 IDS Forensic Science Education Series – Part 2
IDS and the Mecklenburg Public Defender’s Office offer FREE, regular continuing education to criminal defense and parent attorneys, investigators, and mitigation specialists across North Carolina.
Inside the State Crime Lab: Forensic Testing Explained
July 24: Drug Chemistry – Forensic Scientist Manager Amanda Venable
Aug. 7: Toxicology – Forensic Scientist Supervisor Danielle O’Connell
Sept. 4: Trace Evidence – Forensic Scientist Manager David Freehling
Sept. 18: Mobile Device Examinations and Audio/Video Examinations – Forensic Scientist II Sterling Hunt
Oct. 2: Forensic Biology – Forensic Scientist Supervisor Wendell Ivory
Nov. 6: Firearms – Forensic Scientist Manager Jennifer Slish
Dec. 4: Latent Evidence – Forensic Scientist Managers Summer Maffett and Karen Morrow
IDS Mental Health and Education Series
Monthly sessions are held on the third Thursday of each month from 1-2 p.m. EST.
Topics Include:
- Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder – July
- Trauma Stewardship for Self and Others – August
- Suicide Prevention – September
- Stress Management for the Holidays – October
- 6 “R”s of Trauma-Informed Care – November
- Perinatal Mental Health – December
- This event has passed.
Invisible Sentence: Recognizing, Supporting, and Advocating for Children of Incarcerated and Returning Parents
Invisible Sentence: Recognizing, Supporting, and Advocating for Children of Incarcerated and Returning Parents
FREE WEBINAR: Friday, January 26th @ 12:30pm
60-Minutes of CLE Credit Pending
About the Webinar: Participants will be able to share with others their acquired knowledge of the challenges that children of incarcerated and returning parents face daily and will be able to apply the strategies and techniques learned in this workshop to create a supportive environment for these children. Participants will be able to share with others their acquired increased knowledge of what the needs are of children of incarcerated and returning parents, increased knowledge of what services and programs exist and where the gaps are, and tools to advocate for these children to improve responses, programs, and services. Participants will be able to identify ways to collaborate with other professionals to improve the well-being of children of incarcerated and returning parents and will take what they learn back to their own professional settings to explore opportunities to better serve these children. The webinar includes a visual presentation, live audio, and interactive Q & A.
Participants: This webinar is open to public defenders, private attorneys who do indigent criminal defense work, and their staff.
Schedule: The webinar will be held on Friday, January 26th from 12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. Please plan to sign on 15 minutes before the start of the webinar to test your connection.
Registration: Please register at the following link: https://nccourts.webex.com/weblink/register/r1711182187936d6be36cd2d0f7c3ed46
Fee: There is no registration fee for participants. Those interested in earning 1 CLE will be billed by the State Bar for the cost of CLE at $3.50 per hour. To receive CLE credit, all participants must pre-register individually. *CLE Request Pending
Presenter: Melissa Radcliff has been with Our Children’s Place of Coastal Horizons based in Wilmington, NC since February 2007. Our Children’s Place is a statewide education and advocacy program focused on community support for children of incarcerated and returning parents. Prior to that she was the Executive Director and a founding staff member of the Family Violence Prevention Center of Orange County (now the Compass Center for Women and Families), the local domestic violence agency serving Orange County, NC. She has worked in victim services since the 1990s at a domestic violence agency, rape crisis center, prosecutor’s office, and police department in Rhode Island, Arizona, and North Carolina. She is currently overseeing the FRESH (Family Re-Entry Support and Help) grant in 13 re-entry prison facilities.
If you need an accommodation to participate in this program, please contact Carla Huff, [email protected], 919-354-7207
